Tiger Woods began his third match at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play unable to control his own destiny in group play, but everything is breaking Woods way on Friday. After falling to Brandt Snedeker on Thursday, Woods needed to win his final match against Patrick Cantlay, while hoping that Snedeker fails to beat Aaron Wise.
Woods got off to a solid start in Austin, winning the first hole of the round, but Cantlay won back-to-back holes starting with the par-4 fifth, and went 2-up when Woods bogeyed No. 8.
Woods fought back on the back nine, and took control of the match with a brilliant eagle at the par-4 13th hole. Woods’ drive left him an 83-yard approach to the pin, and he hit a perfect shot that landed just a few feet from the cup and spun back into the hole.
On the next hole, Woods won his fourth consecutive by curling in 19-foot putt to go 3-up with four to play.
Wise, meanwhile, had lost both of his opening matches, but was unflappable on Friday. Wise won the first hole of the day to go 1-up and never trailed all afternoon, extending his lead to 5-up by No. 13.
Should Woods and Wise hold out for victories, Woods will advance to the round of 16 – where his first knockout opponent will likely be Rory McIlroy.
